


Healing AIs, Healing Hearts

by teeandrainbows



Series: Troped! [16]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Based on a TV show, F/F, Forehead Touching, Heartland AU, Kiss to keep a cover, Reunion, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25372414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teeandrainbows/pseuds/teeandrainbows
Summary: Raven and her mother were a perfect team, working with damaged and mistreated AIs and tech.  When tragedy strikes, however, Raven has to figure out how to make it on her own.  And then there's that new assistant her mom hired, making things interesting.1st place for Most Unique Source Material, 2nd place for Most Unique Pairing
Relationships: Echo & Raven Reyes, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Octavia Blake/Raven Reyes
Series: Troped! [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1547764
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21
Collections: TROPED 3.0 Round 2





	Healing AIs, Healing Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for Chopped 3.0 Round 2!
> 
> Theme: Sci-Fi  
> Tropes:  
> 1\. Based on a tv show (I chose the Canadian (!) family drama about a girl who works with horses, Heartland)  
> 2\. Kiss to keep a secret  
> 3\. Reunion  
> 4\. Forehead touch!
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and go give the other awesome fics in this event a read!
> 
> (Note: I tagged Major Character Death, but if you know anything about the source material, you'll know who it is and it is not any of the major ship characters)

It was raining outside. Raven rolled over, reaching for her handheld holophone. Would Harper be up? It was pretty late. Before she could call her best friend, though, the device vibrated and the screen lit up. With a wide grin, Raven accepted the call and gave a small wave as the hologram of her best friend blossomed into view.

“Don’t you have an early shift at the cafe tomorrow?” she asked, a teasing note to her voice.

Harper laughed, tucking hair behind her ears. “Hush, you. I would be asleep already, but Dad just got home, and I heard him telling Mom something. Remember that creep McCreary from Sector 9?” She paused for a moment, and Raven nodded, gesturing for her to keep going. “He has an Alie and hasn’t gotten it serviced in months, and apparently it’s just sitting in the trash bin outside his place.”

Raven arched an eyebrow. “You don’t say…”

“Yeah,” Harper said, leaning in and whispering. “He said it’s a good model, too. I thought you’d want to know…” she trailed off, winking at Raven.

It wasn’t hard to guess where her friend was going with this. Raven’s mind was already working. She hadn’t seen a good working Alie in months, and apparently there was one just sitting in the trash. If she didn’t get it, it would probably end up on the shuttle heading off world to the dump planet, where scavengers would just tear it apart and sell the parts to make a small profit.

“I’m going to…” she started, and Harper nodded knowingly.

“Just be safe. The storm’s getting worse,” she said, leaning over and disconnecting on her end. Raven rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling for a moment and collecting her rapidly evolving thoughts before swinging her legs over and rising out of her bed.

“Mom!” she shouted, leaving her room and heading down the hall. The door at the end of the hall opened and her mother peeked out.

“Raven, it’s late,” she admonished, but Raven shook her head.

“McCreary has another AI, but this time it’s an Alie. Mom, we have to go get it. It’s not gonna do any good lying in a pile of junk on the dump planet,” she said, putting all her energy into the best puppy eyes she could muster.

Her mother hesitated, but Raven persisted. “Please. It’s an Alie. It’s sentient.”

“I know,” her mother said, shaking her head. “We’ll go in the morning and try to talk some sense into him.”

“Why not now?” Raven challenged, crossing her arms. “What if it gets stolen by morning, and ends up getting ripped up and sold for parts? Sector 9 isn’t even too far away. We could be there and back within the hour, and then tomorrow we can try to recover the AI.

There was a long, pregnant pause, and then finally her mother nodded. “Fine. Go start the hovercraft, and make sure--”

“The Flame’s working, I know,” Raven interrupted, a wide grin on her face. “Thanks, Mom.”

With that, Raven turned on her heels and ran through the house, to the roof where their hovercraft was parked. She settled into the front seat, tapping on the screen and opening the Flame program. 

“Good evening, Raven,” a mechanical voice rang out around her.

“Hey there, Flame. Initiate ‘Take Off Protocol’,” Raven said, tapping at the screen a few more times.

“Initiating protocol,” the Flame replied, and the machine whirred to life, the engine humming.

She had known it wouldn’t be too hard to convince her mother to go after the Alie. It was what they did. Becca and Raven, known across the planet for their garage where they restored disabled and damaged AI tech that would otherwise be sent to the dump planet. Becca was the true genius, although Raven was slowly but surely learning her mother’s methods. She had built her first AI by the age of 10, and now at 18 was helping her mother fine tune the Flame, an AI Becca had been working on since before Raven had been born. It was just the two of them, ever since her father had abandoned them and her sister had moved offworld for some fancy government job.

Raven tapped some more on the screen. “Weather report,” she said, grabbing a visor and slipping it over her head. Raven blinked as the screen inside the visor flickered on, showing her the radar images of the storm passing through. Harper had been right. It didn’t look like the storm was going to let up any time soon.

“Ready?”

The weather report moved to the side of her field of vision so Raven could see her mother standing beside the hovercraft. “Yeah,” she replied, scrambling into the back. “Ready to go. Flamey’s being good ol’ reliable.”

“Good,” her mother said, putting on her own visor and sitting down in front. “Buckle up.” The straps automatically stretched across their bodies and tightened just enough. 

It was a harrowing flight. They stuck to the lower lanes, avoiding the faster air currents above them, and even then the rain was making it hard to see where they were going. Raven wasn’t worried, though. Becca knew what she was doing, and the Flame kept them locked on the flight path Raven had entered.

Eventually they reached Sector 9, an old, dilapidated neighbourhood. Raven was glad McCreary lived on the outskirts and they didn’t have to go too far into the sector with the highest crime rate on the planet. Once they arrived at his home, Raven peeked out the side of the hovercraft, through her visor.

“There it is,” she said, pointing. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, allowing Raven and her mother to see the android lying haphazardly over a pile of trash. Becca gave some voice commands to the Flame and the hovercraft lowered, hovering just above the ground. Raven vaulted over the side and raised her arms to cover her face against the pelting rain as she jogged over to the Alie.

“Hurry up!” her mother called, and Raven quickly scooped up the humanoid android, slinging it over her shoulders.

“Hey, what are you doing!” a man’s voice cut through the rain and thunder. Raven glanced up, spying McCreary’s large form moving towards her. She swallowed, measuring her chances, and made a run for it. As soon as she reached the hovercraft, she leaped into it, adjusting the Alie across her lap.

“Go!” she urged, but her mother didn’t need telling twice. A curt voice command later, they were rising into the air, leaving McCreary behind as he cursed loudly at them.

“That was close,” Becca said, glancing over her shoulder at Raven. “How does she look?”

“Powered down right now, looks like,” Raven answered, “but she looks like she’s an advanced model. Shouldn’t take us and the Flame too long to get her up and running again. Maybe we could reprogram her as an assistance android. Harper was saying her mom could use some help at the cafe.”

“That sounds good,” Becca said, trusting the Flame to keep them on course as she turned around fully. “Put her in the garage when we get home, and make sure there’s an inhibitor attached. We don’t want her suddenly waking up without any control.”

Raven nodded. The hovercraft chose that moment to lurch in the air current.

“Danger. Danger. Weather pattern unreliable,” the Flame droned. Becca turned around, tapping the screen.

“Autopilot disengage. Initiate manual control.”

Raven clutched the android as her mother fought with the air currents and the rain. A gust of wind caught them and swept them into a higher lane. Raven could barely see through the rain, and could barely hear her mother over the storm. It had picked up much faster than she had expected, and they were rising higher. Lightning flashed, much too close to them and Raven could feel the static in the air just as she heard her mother shout something. Then there was a heavy impact, nearly throwing Raven out of her seat, sending their hovercraft whirling through the air and colliding with another building. The last thing Raven remembered before everything went black was the sensation of falling, and a third impact, more powerful than the first two.

= = = = = 

When she first opened her eyes, everything was too bright. Raven immediately squeezed them shut again, trying to lift her hand. It hurt. Like opening a floodgate, she was suddenly aware of pain all over her body. She moaned a little, turning her head to the side, and suddenly there was movement to her left. She turned that way, squinting through her lashes. There was a figure sitting there.

“M-om?” she croaked out, and the figure rose to their feet, moving closer.

“It’s me,” she heard Harper’s voice, and Raven tried to open her eyes again. She blinked, the fuzzy room slowly coming into focus, as well as her best friend’s face as Harper crouched down next to her. The next thing she realized was that she was lying in a bed, and there was something attached to her arm. She slowly lifted it, staring down at the IV attached to her. Confusion settled over her and she glanced back at Harper.

“Where am I?”

Harper bit her lip. “The hospital. There was an accident. What do you remember?”

Raven shook her head. “Not much… Mom and I were… going to Sector 9? To get an Alie?”

“Mhm,” Harper hummed, reaching out and holding Raven’s hand. “It was storming, and--”

“We crashed. The hovercraft…” Raven hesitated, looking up at Harper. “Where’s my mom?”

Harper glanced to the side. “Your uncle is just on his way back from the toilet,” she said, backing away. “I think he should--”

“Harper, where’s my mom?” Raven repeated, trying to ignore the painful throbbing in her head.

The door opened then. Raven glanced over, her eyes widening. Sinclair stepped in, his coat over his arm. Even from the bed, Raven could tell his eyes were bloodshot.

“Hey there, kiddo,” Sinclair said, walking over to her. Harper straightened up.

“I’m gonna leave you two alone,” she said, grabbing her own coat and leaving in a hurry.

Raven glanced up at Sinclair as he smoothed her hair back. Aside from her mother and Harper, her uncle was probably the person she trusted the most in the world. He helped out at the shop, but he handled more of the mundane cases, tech that didn’t require AIs.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Sinclair said, pulling a chair over and sitting next to her. “When they called and said they found the hovercraft…”

“What happened?” Raven asked, still trying to piece together everything. “And where’s Mom?”

Sinclair swallowed. “It looked like you crashed into a couple of buildings, and then to the ground. The hovercraft is at the shop. I couldn’t bring myself to work on it at all, but I did get the Flame out of it.

Raven nodded slowly. “And Mom?”

“She didn’t make it.”

Those four words brought Raven’s entire world crashing down around her. “No… please, no…” she breathed, tears shrouding her vision. Her shoulders shook and Sinclair pulled her close to him.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

= = = = =

Four days later, Raven was released from the hospital. She held onto Sinclair’s arm as they walked down the hall.

“I brought the jeep. Thought you wouldn’t want to get into a hovercraft just yet,” he told her.

Raven nodded numbly, focusing on attempting to walk without limping. Most of her injuries were superficial, the doctor had said. She was lucky to have gotten off as well as she had, in fact. Her one lasting injury, though, was in her leg. It was busted, and she would have to wear a brace for the rest of her life. For now, she had a simple one, provided by the hospital.

They got into the jeep and drove. At that time of day, ground traffic wasn’t too heavy, and they made it home quickly. As Sinclair helped Raven out of the jeep, she noticed an airdoo sitting next to it.

“Is someone--” she started to say before the door to her home opened and a tall brunette stepped out.

“Raven!” she called.

Raven’s jaw dropped. “Echo?” she asked, taking a shaky step forward. Her sister ran towards her, gathering her into her arms and holding her tightly. Raven wrapped her arms around Echo in turn, letting out a ragged breath. “How are you… what are you doing here?” Raven asked, into her sister’s shoulder.

“I just got in, about an hour ago,” Echo said, stepping back and examining Raven from head to toe. “Rented an airdoo and flew it home. Good thing I did, too, since Sinclair left a bit of a mess inside. I would have gone to the hospital, but I figured it was a big day, and I wanted to surprise you.”

“What about your job?” Raven asked, letting Echo help her inside while Sinclair carried in a duffle bag. As she crossed the threshold of the door, Raven felt a slight static on her skin. At least the Flame was still working properly, she thought.

“Roan gave me indefinite time off,” Echo explained as they went into the living room. “After everything… I wanted to come back home, make sure things are working out.”

Raven nodded slowly. “Right,” she said, letting Echo help her down onto the sofa. Her eyes fell on a family photo hanging on the wall opposite her, and she breathed in sharply. Echo followed her gaze and swallowed.

“I miss her,” she whispered, sitting down next to Raven.

When Sinclair came back down from Raven’s room, he found the two sisters in each others’ arms, crying.

= = = = =

After the funeral, Becca’s body was taken to a shuttle to be taken to the burial planet. The reception, planned by Echo, was at their home.

Raven wandered through the house, wishing everyone would stop telling her how sorry they were for her loss.

“Hey,” Harper murmured, sidling up beside her. “Emori’s over there. Wanna come sit with us?”

She nodded, following Harper over to their other close friend. Emori gave Raven a small smile.

“I noticed Echo’s already started redecorating the house,” Emori said. Raven nodded.

“I think it keeps her sane,” she replied. The three of them chatted, although it was mostly Harper and Emori catching Raven up on things going on in the Sector, until a shadow fell across the three.

“Hey there, Raven. I was hoping I’d catch you,” Josephine Lightbourne said. Raven bit her lip.

“Hey, Josie,” she said, nodding up at her.

The blonde had an attempt at a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m sorry for your loss. Becca was pretty amazing.”

“I know,” Raven replied. Not that she needed Josephine to tell her how amazing her mother had been. “Thanks.”

“Well, I guess this means you won’t be working much more with AIs?”

“Josie!” Harper admonished, but Raven put her hand on her friend’s knee.

“I haven’t decided, not yet,” she said, levelling her gaze at the blonde.

Josie seemed to get the hint in the middle of twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “Well, I’d hate to lose my best competition at the convention,” she chirped, turning on her heels. “Take care of yourself, Raven.”

With that, Josie was gone, and Raven was alone with her two best friends once again. When the number of guests dwindled and Harper and Emori both had to leave, Raven wandered through the house again, pausing at the door to the garage.

Was she going to work with AIs again? She wasn’t sure. Sure, her mother had started trusting her with more and more work in the garage, but she wasn’t sure if she had it in her to do the work without the guiding eye beside her.

“Shall I disengage the garage locks?” the Flame asked through a speaker next to the door. Raven hesitated, then shook her head.

“No.”

She carried on, finding herself in the kitchen where Echo was directing an android to wash dishes.

“Hey,” she said, leaning against a counter. Echo glanced over at her.

“There you are. I was looking for you earlier.”

“Sorry,” she replied. “I was hiding. Need any help?”

Echo shook her head. “The Flame’s taking care of things in here,” she said, nodding at the android who was already getting to work. “It’s nice to not have to do dishes. When did that become a thing?”

Raven shrugged. “I think Mom built that… a year ago? It was supposed to make things easier, so we’d have more time in the garage.”

“Right,” Echo said, nodding. “Well, now that I’m here, hopefully you still have that time in the garage. You are… still going to work, right?”

Raven hesitated. “I guess so,” she said, shrugging once more. “It’ll feel weird, though. Not having Mom around.”

Echo nodded, walking over and wrapping her arms around Raven. The android turned from the sink.

“I miss Becca too,” the Flame said.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Raven frowned.

“Were you expecting anyone else?” she asked. Echo shook her head, but Sinclair was already headed for the door. Raven and Echo followed, hovering behind their uncle.

Sinclair opened the door to reveal a young girl, around Raven’s age, wearing a leather jacket and thick-soled boots. She was carrying an airdoo helmet and a large duffle bag, and fixing Sinclair with a levelled stare.

“I’m looking for Becca Reyes,” she said, glancing around.

Sinclair glanced back at Raven and Echo, then back to the girl. “Becca doesn’t live here anymore. She passed away about two weeks ago. Can we help you?”

The girl’s eyes widened slightly, then she seemed to collect herself and tilted her head. “I’m Octavia Blake. I’m supposed to start working here or something.”

Echo glanced at her, but Raven could only shake her head in disbelief. Sinclair invited Octavia in and had her wait in the living room while the three conferred in the kitchen.

“Did you know anything about this?” Echo asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Raven shook her head. “I didn’t. Did you?” she directed her question at Sinclair, who also shook his head. The kitchen android, hovering near the pantry, stepped forward.

“Becca recorded files pertaining to an Octavia Blake, two months ago. Allow me to recite them,” the Flame said, before spreading its arms wide. “Set a reminder for July 16. Octavia Blake arrives today from the Ark Rehabilitation Program. Set a reminder for July 17. Show Octavia around the garage and have Raven teach her the ropes.” The Flame continued reciting reminders recorded by Becca, until Raven held a hand up.

“We get it,” she said, and the android fell silent, retreating to the corner. She turned to Echo and Sinclair. “What should we do?”

Echo bit her lip. “I’m going to call the Ark Rehabilitation Program. I have a couple of contacts there from work. It sounds legit, though. If Mom had that many reminders…”

Raven nodded. “I guess so,” she said, glancing at Sinclair who also nodded.

Someone coughed behind them and Raven glanced over her shoulder.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Octavia asked, folding her arms in front of herself.

Sinclair stepped forward. “We’ll get this all sorted out. For now, we have a spare room over the garage. Did you need to get anything else, or--”

“Everything I own is in that bag, there,” Octavia interrupted, jutting her thumb towards the door where her duffle bag was sitting.

Sinclair nodded. “Raven, how about you show her where she’s staying?”

There was an awkward moment of silence as Raven stared at her uncle. Taking Octavia to the spare room would require her to go through the garage, where she hadn’t set foot since her mother had died. She swallowed, then finally turned to Octavia. “Let’s go,” she said, brushing past the girl.

Octavia sauntered behind her. “So, how did Becca die?” she asked, stopping and picking up her bag. Raven ignored her, heading to the door to the garage.

“Disengage garage locks,” she said, watching as the screen next to the door flickered on. The Flame did its job, allowing the door to swing open, and Raven stepped through. Octavia followed her, glancing around.

The garage was like a second home to Raven. There were parts everywhere, and a giant wall of computer screens where she and her mother had done all of their programming. A mechanic android rolled up next to her, the Flame’s voice coming out of it.

“Welcome, Raven. It’s been a while. Where should we start?” it asked. Raven shook her head, glancing sideways at the new girl who was staring at the corner. She followed her gaze, her eyes landing on the Alie. Her heart started pounding and she turned away, her leg suddenly aching more than usual.

“Over there,” she said, nodding at a circular hover pad. “That’ll take you upstairs to the loft.”

With a curious glance at her, Octavia walked over and stood on the pad. Raven joined her.

“Engage hover pad,” she said, her tone dry. A cylinder of light popped up around them as the hover pad rose up to the next level.

“We’ll have to get your voice registered to the Flame,” she said, as the light faded away and they stepped out into a wide open space with a cot in one corner and a small dresser in the other. “And sorry, we haven’t really had to use this space in a while.”

Octavia shrugged, dropping her duffle bag in the middle of the room. “How do I get down in the morning?”

“There’s a manual override, over on the wall there. Three second delay.” Raven jutted her thumb over her shoulder, showing Octavia. “It’s late, though, and I have to get up early, so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow to show you around.”

Octavia nodded, and Raven went back down, passing through the garage quickly, ignoring the wrecked Alie in the corner.

Over the next couple of days, Raven and Sinclair showed Octavia how to do some of the less technical jobs in the garage and shop, mostly cleaning. After a quick phone call to the Ark Rehabilitation Program, Echo confirmed that Octavia had been a teenage delinquent, but Becca had agreed to let her work at the shop as part of her rehabilitation. Raven still couldn’t believe she hadn’t been told anything about it, though.

A week after Octavia arrived, Raven came into the garage to work on Echo’s airdoo. Her sister was interested in having the Flame installed on her machine, and it seemed like an easy enough job. When she opened the door, though, she saw Octavia pulling the abandoned Alie from its corner.

“Leave that one alone,” she said, the door automatically closing behind her. Octavia turned, squinting at her.

“I haven’t seen you or Sinclair touch this one at all. What’s its story?” she asked.

Raven shook her head. “It’s just junk. Eventually I’ll get some parts from it.” Then she noticed something in Octavia’s hand. “What’s that?”

The other girl shrugged. “Oh, this thing? It came off when I was pulling it away.” She held up her hand, revealing a small drive.

Raven groaned. “That’s the inhibitor. It keeps the Alie from--”

As she was talking, the Alie suddenly sat up, then rose to its feet. There was a loud beeping noise, then a mechanical gargling that rose in pitch until both Octavia and Raven had to cover their ears.

“What the hell?” Octavia shouted, and Raven stepped forward, grabbing the inhibitor drive from her hand. She managed to find the spot on the android and plugged in the inhibitor, and the noise stopped. The Alie crumpled to the floor, and Raven sighed in relief.

“That’s why it had the inhibitor drive. I have no clue what its programming is, and it was left outside in the rain for who knows how long,” Raven explained.

Octavia frowned. “Isn’t that what you do, though? Reprogram AIs?”

“Yeah, but not this one,” Raven said, her tone blunt. She shoved the Alie back into its corner, then turned to the wall of computers. “Go get Echo’s airdoo. It needs a computer mainframe built in.”

Octavia didn’t move for a moment, watching Raven with her arms crossed. “You don’t make any sense,” she said, finally, turning around and getting the machine.

While Octavia worked on installing the hardware for the new AI, Raven worked on the AI program. After an hour of coding, she pushed away from the computer screens.

“How’s it going?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. Octavia glanced up, her hair pulled into a tight ponytail and grease marks staining her face.

“It’s not,” she said, taking a step back. “I can’t figure this part out.”

Raven walked over, crouching down beside her. Their arms touched briefly, and she swallowed. “You missed a wire here,” she said, showing her where a wire wasn’t connected. “But otherwise it actually looks pretty good. You’re a quick learner.”

Octavia glanced away, at the floor. “Right,” she said, shrugging.

The door opened behind them and Raven peeked up from behind the airdoo. She saw a flash of blonde hair, and sighed.

“Hey Josie,” she said, rising to her feet. Octavia stood up beside her.

“Hey!” Josie chirped, her eyes falling on Octavia with a wide grin. “I was just stopping by to see if you wanted to come to a party tonight in my mindspace.” Raven hesitated, shifting her weight to her good leg, and Josie continued. “You have to come! Everyone’s just  _ dying _ to hear about the Alie you rescued,” her eyes drifted to the corner, “and definitely to meet her,” her catlike gaze landed on Octavia. Come on, you haven’t been out in weeks.”

“I really don’t think--”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Octavia interrupted her, shrugging. “We’ll be there.”

Josie smirked, turning on her heels, twirling hair around her finger. “Perfect. Gate opens at 2100.”

With that, she left. Before the door had a chance to close, Echo stepped in.

“What was that about?” she asked, holding out a tray with some sandwiches. Raven shrugged.

“Party at Sanctum,” she said, taking a sandwich from Echo. Although it had been a bit of an adjustment at first, Raven was starting to enjoy having her sister around. Before, it had been her and her mom, and Sinclair had been helping out, but none of them were particularly organized. Echo had handled much of the paperwork involved in planning the funeral and making sure the garage finances were in order, and for that Raven was grateful.

“That’ll be nice. It’ll be good to see some of your friends,” Echo said. “Are you going?” The question was directed at Octavia.

“Yeah, might as well. Get to know some of the people around here,” Octavia replied, taking a sandwich and nibbling on it.

When evening fell, Raven climbed behind Octavia on her airdoo and directed her to Josie’s home in Sector 2. Octavia was a far more reckless driver than Echo, and slipped between air lanes, darting around larger hovercrafts and even rolling sideways at one point. Raven could only hold on tight to Octavia’s waist, praying that eventually the girl would let her install an AI that had autopilot.

They arrived at the Lightbourne estate and joined the crowd of young adults waiting in line to get the chip that would let them enter Sanctum. Raven found Harper and Emori and the four fell into easy conversation, although they had to shout over the loud music playing. When they reached the door, Raven glanced sideways at Octavia.

“Ever been in a mindspace before?” she asked.

“No,” Octavia replied, shaking her head. “We don’t have the tech in Sector 12, and…” she clammed up, shaking her head. “Not important. What do I do?”

Raven offered the tiniest of smiles. “Follow my lead,” she said, taking a chip from the man standing at the door and walking in, finding a large room filled with chairs. They found four chairs in a cluster and sat down. With Octavia watching, Raven put the chip on her tongue, swallowing it, and leaned back, closing her eyes.

When she opened them, she was standing in a room filled with dancing young adults, strobing lights, and loud music.

“Josie went all out,” Harper commented, glancing around. Raven nodded and they started wandering through the crowd. A moment later, Raven realized something.

“Where’s Octavia?” she asked.

Emori shrugged. “She slipped away when we got in. Went that way, I think,” she said, nodding. Raven looked, but the crowd was too thick and it was too dark.

“We’ll find her eventually,” Harper said, taking Raven’s hand. “Come on, let’s have some fun.”

The trio found a spot and started dancing. Raven was grateful to her two best friends for not pushing her too far. Her leg was already starting to ache, and soon she had to excuse herself to sit down on the sidelines. An android approached her and asked if she wanted something to drink, but Raven waved it away. A moment later, another shadow fell on her.

“Raven? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

She glanced up. “Oh, hey Nikki.” She had dated Nikki for a bit, although it had ended two months ago. None of her friends knew they had split, though. Harper and Emori were just too nice to bring up that they hadn’t seen Nikki, and Josie was too self-absorbed to care. The fact that they were still somewhat friends helped. It was just one more change in her life that she hadn’t been able to process yet, and it sucked.

“I’m sorry about your mom. And sorry I missed the funeral.” Nikki swept the half of her hair that wasn’t braided over her shoulder and sat down next to Raven. Her gaze fell on Raven’s leg, held in a brace. “How’s that working out for you?”

Raven shrugged. “I mean, it sucks. Whoever built this brace had no idea what they were doing.”

“The Raven I know would have ditched the hospital model and built her own by now,” Nikki commented, fixing her with a stare, “and the Flame would have been installed too.”

Another shrug of her shoulders. “I haven’t done much with prosthetics yet. Mom didn’t get a chance to teach me.”

Nikki snorted. “And you’re letting that stop you?”

“Don’t,” Raven warned, rising to her feet, but Nikki followed her.

“Come on, you’re crazy smart. A genius, even. Just because your mom’s gone, doesn’t mean you have to go stagnant and only do what she taught you,” she argued, following as Raven moved through the crowd.

“Nik, stop it. I really just… I need time to figure it all out.”

Her ex didn’t stop. “I hear you’ve got an Alie in the garage. Done anything with that yet?”

“Please, can we just--”

“No, come on, Raven! You have way too much talent to just sit around and mope!”

Raven whirled around, but someone stepped between the two of them. She saw the thick, dark hair tied in a ponytail and the back of a leather jacket, and internally cringed.

“Problem?” Octavia asked, her gaze fixed on Nikki. Harper and Emori found her, then, flanking Raven on either side.

“Hey Nikki,” Harper said, her tone light in direct contrast to the coldness in Octavia’s voice. “It’s been a while. Raven said you were offworld?”

Nikki glanced from Raven, whose arms were wrapped around her midriff, to Emori, who had a hand on Raven’s shoulder, to Octavia, who had moved to the side upon hearing Harper’s voice, yet still was fixing her with a stare. Finally, she nodded at Harper.

“Yeah, had a job. Everything good at the cafe?” she asked.

Harper nodded. “It’s good that you’re back, though. Maybe we should give you two some time alone,” she said, stepping forward and putting her hand on Octavia’s shoulder. The brunette shrugged her off, though, looking over at Raven.

“You good?”

Raven let out a breath, then nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Harper gave her a comforting smile, and Emori squeezed her shoulder before backing off. They hovered, though, a grin on Emori’s face, and Raven’s heart sank. They were probably expecting a kiss. She still didn’t have the heart to tell her friends about the break up, so reluctantly, praying Nikki would forgive her, she walked over to her ex and leaned in, pecking her lips. With her back to Harper and Emori, she muttered, “I’ll explain,” and took Nikki’s hand, leading her away.

One very important explanation later, and a half-hearted promise to try to carry on with her own work, Raven left Nikki and retreated to the edge of the room. It was hard to tell how much time had passed. Time moved faster in a mindspace, and she could never remember how it would correspond with the outside world. An hour in a mindspace could be only five minutes, depending on whose it was. And knowing Josie, she wouldn’t have programmed her mindspace to be like any other.

Eventually, though, she realized she was tired and her leg was aching. Raven sighed, rising to her feet. There was a neon sign on the far wall; that would be the exit. Absently, she wondered where Octavia was, since that was her ride. After a moment, though, Raven shrugged. She could just as easily take a shuttle back to Sector 5. Her decision made, she walked towards the neon sign, slipping between people as she went.

Raven blinked awake, rubbing the back of her neck. It was always disorienting, leaving a mindspace. Her friends and Octavia were still lying with their eyes closed in the chairs around her, so she left the estate, pausing at the door to ask the doorman to call a shuttle.

“You heading home?” Octavia’s voice rang out behind her. Raven turned, biting her lip.

“Oh. Yeah. Early morning tomorrow and all.”

“Good thing I followed you out, then,” the other girl said, turning and walking towards her airdoo. Raven followed, shooting an apologetic smile at the doorman.

“Can you drive a little slower this time?” Raven asked as she settled on the seat behind Octavia and wrapped her arms around the other’s waist.

“I make no promises,” Octavia replied, taking off and immediately zooming between air lanes, nearly clipping a shuttle as she did. Raven cringed, then tilted her head when Octavia suddenly did slow down, dropping to the lower lane. It was a quiet ride back home, and when they were parked, Raven slipped off, rubbing her sore leg.

“Hey. I didn’t realize, earlier. You and your mom, it was a flying accident, right?” Octavia took off her helmet, tucking it under her arm.

Raven blinked at her. “Yeah,” she said, biting her lip.

“I’m sorry. So, you and that girl. Your girlfriend? You didn’t seem too happy with her until your friends showed up.”

The rapid shift in conversation had Raven as disoriented as she had been on the airdoo with the other girl. She walked to the door, letting the Flame recognize her before it opened the door for them.

“We were just talking about my work,” Raven answered, walking towards the door to the garage.

“Right. Harper said she had been offworld? Why didn’t you stay longer with her, then?” Octavia had turned, fixing Raven with that level stare she had begun to associate with the other girl.

“I… because… I really shouldn’t have to explain myself to you,” Raven sputtered, rolling her eyes and turning away.

“Trouble in paradise?” Octavia’s voice wasn’t mocking. In fact, she sounded almost… concerned.

“No. Yeah. I don’t know.”

“Well, whatever it is, you probably shouldn’t try to hide it from your friends. They really care about you.” With that, Octavia turned to the door. “Disengage garage locks.”

“Hello, Octavia. Do you know when Becca will return?”

Startled, Raven turned around, staring at the screen next to the door. It wasn’t the first time the Flame had asked about her mother. Octavia didn’t know what to say, so Raven tapped at the screen.

“Override. Wipe Becca Reyes from memory,” she said, ignoring the tears rising in the corners of her eyes.

“Negative,” the Flame replied, its mechanical voice almost sounding sad. “Becca completed programming, and cannot be wiped.”

Raven squeezed her eyes shut, turning her back to Octavia. There was a tentative hand on her shoulder, but she tugged it away, walking to the hover pad that would take her upstairs to her own room.

The next few days passed without incident. Four days after the party, though, Raven was sitting outside working on Sinclair’s jeep when there was a high pitched screech from inside the garage. She dropped her tools but kept her visor on, running inside. Octavia was brandishing a crowbar while the Alie, much to Raven’s surprise, was advancing on her, still releasing a high pitched cry.

“What happened?” Raven shouted, trying to look at the Alie’s neck, where the inhibitor drive would be.

“I don’t know! I didn’t touch it! I was just engaging the hover pad and it woke up suddenly!”

Raven darted forward, reaching for the android. It turned, catching her with a backhand, sending her flying across the room and into a pile of parts.

“You okay?” Octavia called. Raven groaned, pulling herself to her feet.

“Analysis,” she barked, and the screen on her visor crackled to life. A green light flashed from the visor, scanning over the Alie.

“This is an advanced model,” the Flame reported, “and it is not registered in my databaaaa--”

It couldn’t finish its sentence as the Alie turned back towards Raven. The screeching died down, and instead, a soft, feminine voice echoed through the room.

“Where? Safe? Pain.”

Raven swallowed, slowly walking towards it. Pain didn’t tend to be a word in an AI’s vocabulary.

“You’re safe,” she said, holding up her hands. “We’re not going to let you be damaged. I’m going to help you.”

The Alie shook its head in a jerky motion. “Trash. Broken. Pain.”

Raven reached out to it slowly, ignoring the sustained sound in her ear as the Flame continued to glitch. “You’re not trash. I can help you.” She slowly removed her visor with one hand, handing it to Octavia who was suddenly beside her. “Let me look at your programming.” She shifted her language, looking the Alie in its lit-up eyes. “Access memory files.”

The Alie shuddered, but didn’t move away from her. In Raven’s periphery, she could still see Octavia holding the crowbar, but she tried to keep her focus on the terrified android. She could only imagine it would be similar looking at a scared puppy.

“Memory files corrupted,” the Alie replied. Raven smiled, despite herself. This was good. It was responding to her. She reached to the android’s neck, where the inhibitor was still plugged in. It recoiled away from her, and Raven held up both hands.

“It’s okay,” she said, keeping eye contact. “Access internal hardware.”

The android shuddered once more, but this time a panel opened on its stomach, revealing a mess of wires.

“Poor thing, looks like it was just thrown together,” Raven murmured, eyeing the tangled mess. She glanced at Octavia. “I’m going to try something. Initiate factory reset. Override memory resistance.”

The Alie screamed, and for a moment, the lights in the garage flickered rapidly. Just as quickly, it stopped, and the android collapsed in a heap.

The door opened and Echo stepped in. “You guys okay?” she asked, taking in the scene. “I had to open the door manually… what happened?”

Raven shook her head, taking her visor back from Octavia and sliding it on. “Flame, status report.” There was a light crackling in her ear, but it didn’t reply. Frustrated, she tried again. “Status report! Ugh, damn it! Come on, Flame!”

Octavia frowned. “What’s going on?”

After taking a moment to collect herself, Raven sighed. “I need to reboot the program, I think,” she replied, glancing over at Echo. “It’s hosted in… in Mom’s room.”

Echo let out a breath, then nodded. “I think the power’s out in the main house. What do you want us to do with the Alie?”

Raven glanced back at it. “Leave it there. Once I’ve got the Flame up and running again, I’m going to try and figure it out.”

She didn’t miss the grin on Echo’s face as she pushed past. Thankfully, rebooting the Flame wasn’t too difficult of a task, and once it was back online, so was the power in the house.

Over the next several days, Raven dropped every project in favour of sitting with the Alie, trying to figure it out. Echo researched the Alie model of androids for her, while Octavia helped her in the garage. The advanced AI in the Alie seemed to understand that Raven was trying to help it, which made her job easier. Eventually, she was able to find the AI chip hidden deep inside the android shell and took it to her computer, examining the code. Raven stayed up all night with the code, making small adjustments until finally, when Octavia came down on the hover pad at 8am, Raven was practically bouncing on her stool.

“Eureka!” she exclaimed, punching the air.

“I take it you got something?” Octavia asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

Raven beamed. “I found her personality matrix,” she explained. Octavia blinked at her, and she clarified. “I was able to wipe away the residual fear from the abuse she sustained, and I even slipped in some familiarity with the Flame, so they won’t clash.”

“That’s great!” Octavia exclaimed, suddenly a lot more awake. “I mean, I won’t pretend I completely understand, but it sounds like progress.”

“It’s definitely progress,” Raven said, pulling the AI chip from her computer. “I think I’m ready to put it back in her. You said last night you were able to get the body fixed up?” Octavia had been hard at work fixing the physical damage to the Alie’s body while Raven was coding.

“Yeah, and I even got a bit of the internal wiring figured out, too,” Octavia replied, walking over to the android sitting in the corner. Raven followed her with the chip, ignoring the dull ache in her leg.

“Perfect,’ she said, bending down. “Let’s get her fired up.” She found the correct spot and inserted the chip, then stood back. Octavia stood next to her, and somehow, Raven’s hand found hers and held on tightly.

They waited while the Alie’s systems booted up, watching as it slowly rose to its feet.

“Status report,” Raven said clearly, locking eyes with the android.

“System is operating at 85% efficiency,” the Alie started, launching into a full report. With every update, Raven’s grin grew wider. Once it was done, the Alie folded its arms in front and waited expectantly. Octavia squeezed Raven’s hand.

Raven breathed. “Hey there, beautiful.”

The Alie’s eyes lit up. “Hello, Raven. How may I assist--” It sputtered out, taking a few steps backwards and raising and lowering its arms.

“So, there’s some glitches to work out,” Raven said, her excitement deflating a bit. Octavia turned to her, putting her hands on her shoulders.

“But you did it. She’s working!” she breathed, gazing into Raven’s eyes. “You’re brilliant.”

Raven blushed, looking down. “I mean, you helped. It would have taken me a lot longer if--” she was cut off by a yawn, and Octavia smirked.

“Maybe we should go get some coffee,” she said, her hands running down Raven’s arms. Raven shuddered, trying to ignore the spreading heat across her cheeks.

“Right, yeah. Coffee.” She turned to the Alie. “Power down.” The Alie obeyed, folding down into a deep crouch, and Raven bent down after it to remove the chip.

Eager to share the good news with Echo and Sinclair, Raven called out for them as she and Octavia went to the kitchen. When they got there, though, they found Echo standing between two people. On one side of the kitchen was Orlando, a local teacher, and, Raven smirked as she remembered, Echo’s childhood sweetheart. Opposite Orlando was a woman with dark hair, wearing business clothes, and Echo stood in the middle looking lost. She glanced up as Raven and Octavia arrived.

“Hey! How’s the work going with the Alie?” Echo asked quickly. Raven opened her mouth, but it was Octavia who answered.

“It’s great! Raven got the AI working again,” she said, beaming at her. The heat rose to Raven’s cheeks once more and she shifted her weight nervously.

“That’s awesome,” Echo said, and Raven peeked back at her curiously. Her sister’s voice was higher pitched. Weird. She glanced over at the unknown woman and Echo followed her gaze. “Oh, um. This is Ontari. She’s from Azgeda Corp.”

Oh. That was where Echo worked. Raven now noticed how professional Ontari looked, dressed in a business suit. Next to Echo’s comfortable lounging clothes, Orlando’s casual outfit, and the clothes she and Octavia were wearing for their work in the garage, Ontari stuck out like a sore thumb. Raven had to wonder why Ontari had made a trip to a completely different planet.

“Ontari, this is Raven, my sister, and Octavia, our assistant mechanic.”

Orlando coughed. “I think I’m going to head out,” he said, nodding at Raven and Octavia. “Nice to meet you,” he added politely to Ontari, before turning on his heels and leaving the room.

Echo flushed, glancing between Ontari and the hallway where Orlando had disappeared. Raven had to break the awkward silence, so she plastered a polite smile on her face and stuck out a hand to shake Ontari’s.

“You and Echo must be good friends, to have come so far,” she said. Echo coughed behind her, and Ontari smirked.

“You could say that. I actually came out here to try and convince Echo to come back. Azgeda Corp’s research is near a breaking point, and we would love to have her back in the office to run the press conference when it happens.” Ontari stepped over, slipping her arm through Echo’s and leaning in, kissing her cheek. “I’m told not to take no for an answer, and I’m pretty much inclined to agree with that.”

Beside Raven, Octavia tilted her head. “What research?” she asked.

Ontari shook her head. “Classified, for now. Let’s just say it’ll make travelling between planets that much easier,” she said, a smug smile still on her face.

Echo stepped away from her. “Ontari, you and Roan both know I came here because I needed to help out my family.”

“And it looks like they’re doing pretty well now,” Ontari replied, gesturing around. “So why don’t you come back and do what you do best.”

Raven’s heart dropped. Despite the fact that her sister had been gone for years, it had been so nice to have her back. And now, she wasn’t sure if she could handle losing another family member. Octavia’s hand found hers and held it tightly, and for some reason, Raven didn’t mind it.

“I’ll have to think about it,” Echo said, forcing a smile. “Raven, you must be hungry. You were out in the garage all night.”

Raven managed a nod, stepping forward. “I’m just going to grab a quick bite and some coffee, then Octavia and I really should keep going with the Alie.”

Ontari looked up at the mention of an Alie, but didn’t say anything. Echo merely nodded, turning to face the counter.

“Sounds good. I might take off and show Ontari around the Sector… if you’d like?”

Ontari hummed in response, and Raven quickly poured herself some coffee and grabbed a banana. Then she grabbed Octavia’s arm and pulled her away, back to the garage.

“What was that about?” Octavia asked once they were there. Raven shrugged.

“Echo can go if she wants. We’ll manage here,” she said, grabbing the AI chip and plugging it into her computer. “85% isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. Could you work on the mechanics for her motor functions while I finetune the program?”

Octavia nodded silently, getting to work. The pair worked in relative silence for a while, broken by the sound of tools or Raven mumbling as she poured over lines of code, until the lights flickered around them. Octavia glanced up.

“The Flame’s acting up again,” she said, going to the wall panel and tapping at it. Raven nodded, squeezing her eyes shut. The Flame was all she had left of her mother, and she was getting worried.

“I’ll take another look at the code when we’re done with the Alie,” she said, trying to hide her fear. A shadow fell across her and she glanced up.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Octavia said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Then a curious look passed over her face. “Wait a moment,” she said, running to the hover pad and going up to her loft. Raven squinted after her, then turned back to her computer. A minute later, Octavia returned with a small, leather-bound notebook.

“I found this in a hole in the wall upstairs, last night,” she said, holding it out. “I wasn’t sure what it was, but now that I think about it, isn’t that the Flame’s logo on the front?”

Raven peered down at it, then back up at Octavia. “This is my mom’s journal,” she breathed, running her fingers over the worn leather. “I thought she had lost it, or that she had it that night… I couldn’t find it anywhere. She wrote down everything in it,” she said, opening it to a random page.

“Maybe there’s something in there about the Flame?” Octavia asked, a note of hope to her voice. Raven nodded.

“The Flame was Mom’s biggest accomplishment,” she said, closing the book again. “She definitely wrote about it.”

Octavia grinned. “I’m glad I found it for you, then.”

“Me too,” Raven added, rising to her feet. “You surprised me, Octavia. When you showed up, I wasn’t sure what to think of you.”

She laughed. “You made no sense. You still don’t.”

Raven reached over, putting her hand on Octavia’s elbow. “Let’s try the Alie again.”

Her assistant nodded, and Raven put the notebook down. She took the AI chip back over to the android, putting it in and waiting. The Alie once again powered on, rising to its feet.

“System is operating at 95% efficiency,” it said. Raven punched the air, then turned to Octavia, laughing. There was something different in Octavia’s eyes, and Raven had only a moment’s notice before Octavia’s lips were on hers, her hand on Raven’s cheek. Just as quickly, though, the brunette was pulling back, her cheeks flushed.

“I’m sorry, I--” she started before Raven cut her off with another kiss.

“Don’t apologise,” she mumbled against Octavia’s lips. When she felt them turn upwards in a smile, Raven leaned her forehead against Octavia’s. “Thank you for everything.”

= = = = =

That evening, after everyone had gone to bed and Ontari had left in quite a huff, Raven crept back down to the garage. The Alie was sitting on a chair next to the computer wall, but rose to its feet when Raven entered.

“Good evening, Raven. How can I help you?”

Raven crossed the floor, stopping directly in front of the Alie.

“Hey there, beautiful,” she said, putting her hands on the android’s arms. They were cool to the touch. “Access memory drive.”

The Alie’s eyes flashed and projected a hologram across the room. “Which memory would you like to access?”

Raven let out a staggered breath. “July 9th.”

“Are you sure? System readings show that July 9th is a traumatic memory.”

Raven nodded. “Project memory.”

It came in bursts, broken up by static. That was to be expected, though. After the factory reset, and the state of the Alie before Raven had been able to fix it, Raven had suspected the memory would be fuzzy. She watched as the scene unfolded from the Alie’s point of view, as the rain fell, as lightning lit up the sky, as Raven came running and picked it up out of the trash heap. When the hovercraft lifted into the air, Raven felt a lump in her throat.

“Stop,” she said. The hologram immediately disappeared.

“Your heart rate is quite elevated,” the Alie reported, turning to Raven. “The memory is traumatic for you?”

Raven shuddered. “It was the worst day of my life.”

The Alie was silent for a moment, then spoke again. “I don’t believe so.”

Raven squinted, peering at her. “What do you mean?”

“It was not a horrible day. It was a good day. You saved me.”

Raven swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling tears welling in her eyes. “That’s right,” she said, taking a step closer and pressing her forehead against the android’s. “I saved you. I think we’re going to work well together,” she breathed, smiling.

She heard a cough behind her and turned. Echo was standing there, a warm smile on her face despite the tired look in her eyes.

“I know we didn’t get a chance to talk earlier, but I told Ontari I’m not going back to Azgeda Corp,” she said. Raven nodded, and Echo continued. “I’m going to stay here. I’ve missed this place too much. And you.”

Raven let out a breath, walking over and throwing her arms around her sister.

“Thank you,” she said, into Echo’s shoulder. The lights flickered, and both sisters glanced at the Flame’s panel on the wall, then back to each other.

“I’ll work on the Flame tomorrow,” Raven promised, and Echo nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Obligatory shoutout to Bailey and Sara for running this awesome event!
> 
> It was... really interesting trying to adapt a family drama about horses to be sci fi. So please let me know how I did in the comments!


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